Cold and rainy. That was the weather that greeted me when I left the train station. So Grenada and I were not quite on the same page. It was just a light sprinkle when I started walking. And then it rained buckets. I found a cafe. For the next hour and a half I slowly sipped a cup of coffee while I waited for Kim to arrive on the bus. At least I stayed dry. Between countless calls and text messages back and forth we finally found each other. It was still raining. We decided to get lunch and then attempt to find our hostel.
Grenada has this wonderful tapas deal. You order a drink, you pick a tapa to go with it from a menu. They are so smart. So that was our lunch. Drinks and tapas. I had some delicious meatballs with potatoes, little sausages on toast, bread with cheese, and a small dish of potatoes alioli (in garlic and oil).
The sun eventually came out. We found our hostel. Dropped our bags, and went out to explore the town some more. A bakery sold mini pizza bread things, and that became dinner. We went to bed early. Mainly because we knew we would have to wake up early to get our tickets tomorrow for La Alhambra.
5:45 am – wake up, dress, and hobble out in the cold and rain. After a 30 minute trek up the side of the mountain we encountered about 100 other people waiting in line.
9:00 am – We got our tickets! It was well worth the wait. I can no longer feel my toes though and my hands are cold. It was like Paris all over again…
9:15 am – We found wonderful bathrooms on the premises with heat and hand dryers that are perfect for drying out shoes and warming hands.
The Alhambra is huge. It stretches out on the side of a large hill/ mountain. The palace and fortress to be built in the 13th century by the Arabs. It has been a royal residence since, and now is an extremely famous tourist location. While it did rain off and on throughout the day, when the sun came out it was glorious. We climbed among the old fort towers, viewed the ancient arab baths, and wandered through the never ending gardens complete with palm trees, ponds, fountains, archways, and buildings. By favorite is the garden that aims to create a tranquil setting by drowning out background noise with the sound of the rushing water. The star of the Alhambra is the Nazarid Palace. The colored tiles decorating it aren’t nearly as amazing as the plaster work that hangs from the walls and ceilings like icicles. Carlos I of Spain also had to leave his mark on the Alhambra by constructing a palace in the center of the grounds… it is interesting though because it is square on the outside and has a round patio on the inside.
Despite the wet and cold I was very impressed. It was well worth it. The rest of the day we spent inside drinking coffee and watching our Rugby friends from Seville beat Portugal!
